Vascular calcification and fracture risk.

Osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases are public health problems. Fragility fractures are associated with high risk of cardiovascular event and patients with cardiovascular diseases have higher risk of fracture. Severe abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is associated with higher cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Severe AAC is associated with higher risk of fracture. In cross-sectional studies severe AAC was associated with greater prevalence, higher number and greater severity of vertebral fractures after adjustment for confounders including bone mineral density (BMD). Prospective studies confirm the association between baseline AAC severity and prospectively assessed fracture risk in both sexes. Data on the link between AAC and BMD are discordant. Age, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and low grade systemic inflammation are possible risk factors of severe AAC and fracture risk. However, in clinical studies, the link between AAC and fracture was significant after adjustment for these factors. Data on the association between calcification in other vascular beds and BMD are limited and discordant.